“We prohibit nothing and grab no one, there’s no responsibility for those relations unlike in the other countries,” Putin said.

He mentioned several US states as an example and assured that in Russia everyone might feel “relaxed” as gay sex is not criminalized in the country.

Sparking a world wide controversy in June last year, Putin signed into law a bill forbidding the promotion of homosexuality to minors.

The law’s proponents in Russia argue it is aimed at protecting children from harmful influence, while critics allege the move restricts freedom of speech and is part of a broader crackdown on Russia’s gay community.

In a state of the nation address last month, Putin pledged to defend traditional family values.

“This destruction of traditional values from above not only entails negative consequences for society, but is also inherently anti-democratic because it is based on an abstract notion and runs counter to the will of the majority of people,” Putin said.

In Moscow on Thursday, Putin however insisted that there would be no discrimination on any criteria during the upcoming Winter Olympic Games.

He has previously said that Russia will “do everything” to ensure a warm welcome for Sochi guests “regardless … of sexual orientation”.

Earlier last year, the International Olympic Committee has dismissed concerns over the Russian law banning gay propaganda, saying it doesn’t violate the Olympic charter’s anti-discrimination clause, and pronounced Russia ready to host the 2014 Winter Games.

57 founding members, many of them prominent US allies, will sign into creation the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank on Monday, the first major global financial instrument independent from the Bretton Woods system.

Representatives of the countries will meet in Beijing on Monday to sign an agreement of the bank, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. All the five BRICS countries are also joining the new infrastructure investment bank.

The agreement on the $100 billion AIIB will then have to be ratified by the parliaments of the founding members, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a daily press briefing in Beijing.

The AIIB is also the first major multilateral development bank in a generation that provides an avenue for China to strengthen its presence in the world’s fastest-growing region.